Modular Pallet With Sliding Boards And Locking Spine

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional pallets are difficult to repair, bulky, and pose safety hazards due to nails, making them uneconomical and inefficient for transportation and storage, especially when damaged.

Innovation Solution

A modular pallet design featuring side rails with channels and sockets, spine members, and locking mechanisms that allow boards to be slidably engaged and locked without nails, enabling easy assembly, disassembly, and replacement of components, facilitating efficient transportation and storage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If conventional pallets are made from timber joists and planks with nails, then structural strength is achieved, but repair difficulty and safety hazards increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural strengthVSAvoidrepair difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSEase of repair

Solution Approach 1:

The pallet is divided into modular components (side rails, spine members, boards) that can be independently replaced. The side rails and spine members form a reusable frame while damaged boards can be individually substituted, transforming the monolithic timber structure into replaceable modules that simplify repair operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The harmful nails are completely removed from the design. Instead of permanent mechanical fastening, the patent uses a nail-free connection system where boards engage with side rails through inserted ends that slide into engagement, eliminating safety hazards while maintaining structural integrity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Stability of the object's composition

If conventional pallets use nails for assembly, then structural integrity is maintained, but safety hazards and packaging damage increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural integrityVSAvoidsafety hazards

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Nails are completely extracted from the design. The patent replaces permanent mechanical fastening with a nail-free connection system where boards engage with side rails through inserted ends that slide into engagement, eliminating safety hazards while maintaining structural integrity through friction and geometric interlocking.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The side rails act as intermediary elements that mediate the connection between spine members and boards. The rails provide a stable framework that receives and secures board ends through sliding engagement, distributing loads and maintaining structural integrity without direct board-to-board fastening that would require nails.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Strength

If pallets are designed as monolithic structures, then structural strength is achieved, but transportation volume and repair efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural strengthVSAvoidtransportation volume

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The pallet is segmented into reusable side rails and spine members that form a permanent frame, combined with replaceable boards. This segmentation allows the structural framework to be retained while only replacing damaged components, reducing transportation volume for repairs and improving repair efficiency through modular component substitution.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Ease of manufacture

If conventional pallets are destroyed when damaged, then component replacement is simplified, but economic efficiency and resource waste worsen

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecomponent replacement simplicityVSAvoidresource waste

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of discarding the entire pallet when damaged, the patent enables recovery and reuse of the side rails and spine members. Only the damaged boards are replaced, while the structural framework is retained and reused, significantly reducing resource waste and improving economic efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #34Discarding and recovering

Data Source

PatentEP2138412B1Pallet with sliding boards and a locking spine member

Publication Date: 2014.08.06 WINSOFT TECH SHENZHEN

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AI summary

A pallet comprises: a plurality of side rails (1,2), each side rail including upper and lower runners; a multiplicity of boards (3,4), each board being adapted to extend between a runner of two of the rails; a spine member (6) extending parallel to the rails, the spine member including upper and lower spine runners; each board including a spine engaging portion adapted for sliding engagement with a spine runner; and locking means adapted when locked to prevent sliding disengagement of the boards from the slide runner.